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"Please, Mommy. One more story." Bright brown eyes pleaded with me as my six year old pushed another Christmas book into my hand.

I bit back the automatic "no" that begged for release. After a typical day of teaching, mothering, and managing the activities of a noisy, busy household, I wanted to curl up on the couch with my newest biography. I hungered for silence and stillness--food for my creative mind.

"Just one more." My four year old added her big blue eyes to the drama.

My mind shouted that I'd given all day. I'd already sacrificed enough. From the piles of laundry I'd folded to the never-ending task of breaking up squabbles and training my children's character. I had even planned a treasure hunt for our special Advent activity and cooked red and green food for every meal--including green scrambled eggs.

My body ached and my eyes smarted from exhaustion. It would be so easy to say no, to tuck my littlest ones into their beds and have an hour of quietness before the older kids arrived home from art class and basketball practice.

I longed to glance away, to ignore the upturned faces waiting for my decision. But my heart compelled me to look at each of them, into their eyes and to see the desire glowing there--the desire to spend just a few more precious minutes with their busy mom.

I took a deep breath and settled myself back against the bed. They smiled and snuggled against me.

"Would you sing it, Mommy?" my six year old asked.

Only then did I realize which book he'd slipped into my hands. I stifled another weary sigh. "Isn't there another book we could read?"

"No. I like this one."

I stared at it for a moment, then opened it. "Okay, sweetie." I whispered a prayer and began singing. "On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . ."

By the last page, with the twelve drummers drumming and eleven pipers piping, we were laughing at our bumbling efforts. And when I gazed at the delight upon their faces, I knew I'd given my true loves a gift that night. . .

The gift of me and my time.

Amidst the craziness of writing and every day life, especially during the Christmas season, it's easy to forget to give the gifts that really matter the most.

Jody, you are a blessing! The gift that keeps on giving really is my time and attention. Tabitha spelled love masterfully- I'm going to have to borrow that!

I've taken a brief hiatus from writing this month to focus on family. This has been a busy writing year for me and I want them to know I appreciate the sacrifices they have made for me to pursue my dream.

She likes to count. EVERYTHING. So when we read, she has to count everything on the book. Are there birds on the page? Yep, she counts every single one. If there's more than one of anything, she's counting them. Makes for one VERY tired momma (even though I know it IS cute) and one very long bedtime ritual.

I limit counting now, because we BOTH need our sleep, but there are still too many nights that I beg out of story time, and shame on me for that!

It's amazing how rushed we are this time of year (or every time of year in some cases), but our kiddos crave our time, don't they? I'm hoping to give my little loved ones and my grown-up loved ones more time over the next two weeks.

I think the greatest gift we can give is kindness. Smile at a stranger. Hold open the door for someone. Hold that elevator door as you hear someone running toward it. Say 'thanks'. Or, when in the drive thru at Starbucks, buy the person in line behind you their coffee . . . not just at this time of year, but all the time.

As crazy as things are in this life, as chaotic as things get, the simple gift of kindness - free, no tax, no cost, no nothing - is sometimes the best gift of all.

Beautiful words and thoughts, Jody. My exhaustion has been at its peak for several weeks now, but whenever I ignore myself for a few minutes to snuggle with my son, it's always worth it. And like my husband says, I only have a few more years before my son won't want to snuggle with his mommy.

We were sure to plan our holiday season so that much of the chores and running around part of it were finished early in the season. It was worth the effort as now, this beautiful week, our days together are leisurely, our togetherness genuine. So like you, that special gift of time is ours this week.

You are so right, it's what we all want from those we love. Don't really want to sing the absolute worst Christmas song ever written, but love those moments. My kids are too old for us to read together, but I try to read the books they're reading and then listen, really listen, when they tell me what they liked about it.

You are so right, Jody, and I could offer up very similar stories of my own. We need to see Jesus in our midst. You saw Him in the eyes of your children. Someday, you'll be asked if you recognized Him there, and indeed, you can say that you did. We can't always respond perfectly, but occasionally, we do get it right! :)

That is such a sweet story! I wish my children didn't have to coax me into sharing my time with them sometimes. It's so easy to get focused on things that don't really matter and forget the things that matter most.

We're human. Sometimes we need reminders or a little coaxing. Sometimes we have to seize opportunity. Just this evening, I was singing this song to my two youngest, while we played dodge ball indoors since we couldn't make it to my oldest's basketball game. I might not have done it, but it felt like a great way to have fun after a long day. I'm glad we did (even if I had to get help with the 11th and 12th days).

I got an unexpected royalty check in the mail, so I could also give some money to two of my favorite charities -- New York Horse Rescue and the National Marine Life Center (the latter needs to raise about $200,000 by mid-January for their new building for sea rescues like turtles, dolphins, whales, etc.)

I'm so glad you gave your children one more story. I remember when my kids wanted the "find Goldbug" book and I didn't think I could stant it one more time. But I did and now they remember it with love. Have a Merry Christmas.

It's ironic I should read this post today. Just last night my husband expressed the need to have more time (quality time) with me right now. With all the holiday hubbub and kids and church programs...my sweet hubby has been feeling left out and a little lonely. I plan to spoil him a little during the remainder of the holiday break! :)